The Long Walk by Stephen King

I haven't read this book, but was looking at the description because one of my students is reading it. It sounds quite similar to The Hunger Games, except of course that Stephen King wrote this in about 1967!

Here's a link to the reviews on Amazon:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ydyxb44

Here's the Complete Animoto Video

Click here to see the full Animoto video featuring all of the 2009-2010 Battle of the Books titles.

Any high school student that would like to join BOB, please see me in the LMC.

Summer Reading!

I haven't posted for a LONG time but I have been reading! I mostly read 2009-2010 Battle of the Books books. I don't think teams will be disappointed this year. There are lots of good titles on the list. Here are the BOB books I read this summer:

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea by Valerie Zanatti
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Fire From the Rock by Sharon M. Draper
Jerk, California by Jonathan Friesen
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
No Choirboy: Murder, Violence and Teenagers on Death Row by Susan Kuklin
Punk Rock Etiquette: The Ultimate How-To Guide for Underground, DIY, and Indie Bands by Travis Nichols
Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

Click here for a complete list of the high school BOB reading list.

I put together an Animoto music video of the books listed above. All of the books on the BOB list can be found in our high school library. Read on!!!

(I just thought that maybe I should have added ALL the BOB books on my Animoto video! I'll do another one and post it here.)

Last Cafe Library of the School Year

We're going to read Paper Towns by John Green for our last Cafe Library book of the school year.

Summary:
One month before graduating from his Central Florida high school, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen basks in the predictable boringness of his life until the beautiful and exciting Margo Roth Spiegelman, Q's neighbor and classmate, takes him on a midnight adventure and then mysteriously disappears.

I think most people will like this book. John Green seems to know what young adults like to read.

We're meeting for lunch in the LMC on Tues. May 26th.

I'll post a Battle of the Books 2009-2010 list in a month or so for a great summer reading list.

Like reading graphic novels and looking for something different? Consider reading Aya by Marguerite Abouet. Studious Aya and her party-girl friends live in a poor section of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The story looks at the ups and downs of teenage life in 1978 and has some laugh out loud funny moments.

The Hunger Games

I re-read The Hunger Games over spring break and I decided to do some digging as to when the sequel would be out. Well, turnes out it's a triology and the next book will be out September 1st of this year! There is also going to be a movie, due out in 2011. They will be printing 250,000 copies of Catching Fire, and the next book is tenatively scheduled for 2010. Read more about it http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6631377.html <---- there.

The Big Read

LMHS is participating in The Big Read!

The Big Read is aimed at inspiring people across the country to pick up a good book. Activities include: listening to radio programs, watching video profiles, and reading brief essays about classic authors.

The Big Read books is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

One of the activities associated with this program is a Jeopardy-style game where trivia questions will be asked to teams of no more than four participants per team. There will be a teacher team from LMHS consisting of: Ms. Hart, Ms. Morris, Mrs. Edwards and Mrs. Bade. We also have enough interest at LMHS to form four student teams.

The teacher team will compete at UW-Whitewater on April 7th and the student team will compete on April 28th.

LMHS will be STRONG competition!!!

Let's Team up with the Public Library

Cafe Library is going to team up with the L.D. Fargo Public Library in April. We're reading Jazz by Toni Morrison. The public library is conducting a series called, Let's Talk About It: Love & Forgiveness in the Light of Death,
sponsored by ALA and the Fetzer Institute.

Jazz is just one book in the discussion series being held at the public library. Ms. Vicki York, librarian from the L.D. will lead our discussion.

Summary from the back cover: "A mysterious voice weaves the story of an African-American door-to-door salesman of beauty products who shoots his young lover, and his wife who tries to disfigure the corpse with a knife in the winter of 1926."

BTW, Kelsey did a GREAT job leading our discussion of Naughts and Crosses in March. Several more students are now hooked on this series. Way to go Kelsey!

Mr. Gerard Saylor Leads Book Discussion

Gerard Saylor, director of the L.D. Fargo Public Library led our discussion of Feed by M.T. Anderson. The discussion was lively as several people really liked the book and others disliked the book quite a bit.

We're reading Naughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman for March. Kelsey will be our discussion leader. This book is described as a futuristic Romeo and Juliet story but has a thriller twist to it. I can't wait to get started reading this! Thanks for the suggestion, Kelsey!

The Hunger Games Was a BIG Hit!

We had our first all thumbs up for The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Everyone had good things to say about the book and voiced interesting comments at our discussion. Mr. Gerard Saylor, Director at the L.D. Fargo Public Library, was in attendence. He read the book and liked it. He even blogged about it on his What to Read blog. Mad props to Mr. Saylor for recognizing Cafe Library!

Our next book is Feed by M.T. Anderson. Mr. Saylor agreed to lead this discussion. Here's a brief summary: "In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble."

We're meeting in the LMC for lunch on Tues. Feb. 17th. Can't wait to hear everyone's take on it.

MOLLY WALSH IN ALTERNATIVE PRESS!

The next time you're in the library, look at page 24 of Alternative Press magazine! Molly commented on The AP Poll and it was published in the magazine!! There's a picture of her, you can't miss it!

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

I read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby. This is an amazing true story of a French journalist who has a stroke that leaves him totally paralyzed except for his left eyelid. This is called locked-in syndrome. He is able to commuicate by blinking his left eye. Through this mode of communication, he wrote this book. It's beautiful as well as heart-breaking.

I'm thinking of suggesting it for my Teacher Book Club although I think the Cafe Library group would enjoy it too!